Dante and Wertheim

I thought that in Canto XVIII, when it was describing the ditches or whatever it was around Malebolge made a really interesting picture in my mind. When it says: 'the belt which this leaves therefore forms a circle/between the well and the high, difficult bank/ and the bottom of it has ten distinct valleys/ Well, in order to guard the walls/ ditch after ditch is dug around a castle/ the ground acquires a characteristic formation/ so was the appearance of the valleys here' in lines 7-13, for some reason I had a hard time at first visualizing it. I think maybe it's because I pictured hell like the drawing, with nothingness in the middle and the fact that these ditches (and I'm picturing the trenches soldiers fight in for some reason) are surrounding something makes me believe it should be the bottom of hell where they're located. I thought that was a pretty interesting idea, like maybe as Dante and Virgil go through each circle they expand, kind of like opening a bureau? I have no idea and I may completely be talking through my ass but I thought it was a kind of cool idea.

Also, from the Wertheim reading, I really liked how she talked about how stories create alternaive spaces, and even though Dante's world was one of demons and angels, that it wasn't an alternative space because in that time period, with their faith, this world was a "reality" for them. I thought the idea that "Rather than enticing us into an escape from reality, Dante invites us to see it whole, in all its vast dualistic scope," (6) was really interesting as well.